Apple
Apples are one of the most popular fruits around the world. We eat them fresh, bake them into desserts, and enjoy them in many forms all year round. Apples also come in many colors, sizes, and flavors, which makes them easy to recognize. Because of this, most people think an apple is hard to confuse with any other fruit.
However, that is not always true. When you look closely—or even from a distance—there are several fruits that look very similar to apples in shape, color, or texture. At first glance, these fruits can easily be mistaken for an apple. In this post, we’ll explore a list of fruits that look like apples and see what makes them so alike.
1. Dungs (Jujube)
Also called Chinese dates, fresh jujubes are small and round to oval in shape, with smooth, shiny skin that can be green or red. At a quick glance, they look very much like tiny apples. As they ripen, they turn darker and become wrinkled, but when fresh, they have a crisp bite and an appearance similar to an apple.
2. Asian Pears
Pears are usually known for their narrow, tapered necks, and many people would say they can never look like apples. However, not all pears fit that classic shape. Some varieties, such as Asian or nashi pears, are round and closely resemble apples. Their pale green or golden-brown skin and firm, juicy flesh make them easy to mistake for apples at first glance.
3. Quinces
Quince belongs to the same botanical family (Rosaceae) as apples, so it shares many physical features with them, including shape and overall appearance. When you cut a quince open, the inside looks very similar to an apple. In ancient myths and writings, quinces were even called “golden apples,” which shows just how closely related and alike these fruits really are. However, their texture and flavor when raw are very different. Quinces are usually much harder and more sour, making them a bit unpleasant to eat raw like apples.
4. Nectarines
Nectarines are some of the closest lookalikes to apples, and it’s hard to argue otherwise. They are round, smooth-skinned, and come in red or yellow shades, just like many apple varieties. Because they lack the fuzzy skin of peaches, nectarines often look even more like apples than peaches.
5. Peach
Another close apple lookalike is the peach. Peaches are round in shape and often have a red blush on their skin, which can make them look very similar to apples at first glance. When they are sitting in a fruit bowl or at the market, it’s easy to mistake them for certain apple varieties.
The main difference is their texture and interiors. Peaches have soft, fuzzy skin, unlike the smooth skin of apples. They also contain a large, hard pit, often called a “stone,” in the center instead of small seeds.
6. Medlar
You might disagree that medlars look like apples, but they earn a place on this list for a specific reason. While they may not resemble the common red or green apples most people think of, they do look very similar to a certain type of apple called a Russet apple.
In appearance, medlars and Russet apples share several features. Both are round in shape and have a rough, brown, russeted skin rather than a smooth surface. When you cut open a medlar, the inside also looks familiar—the seeds are arranged in a way that is very similar to apple pips.
7. Pomegranate
For someone who has never seen a pomegranate before, its round shape, shiny skin, and similar size can make it easy to mistake for an apple—especially a red apple. In fact, pomegranates are sometimes called “seeded apples,” which shows why the confusion can happen.
However, the inside quickly gives it away. Unlike apples, pomegranates are packed with many juicy seeds, and their interior looks completely different once you cut them open.
8. Persimmon
Like pomegranates, someone who is not familiar with persimmons may think certain varieties, such as Fuyu, are apples. They are round, smooth, and can look very similar to apples, especially from a distance.
However, they differ in taste. Persimmons tend to have a more astringent flavor than apples, which makes them easy to tell apart once you take a bite.
9. Hawthorn
Hawthorn berries are small, round, red fruits that grow in clusters. At a glance, they look very similar to crabapples, since both are small, red, and round. This close appearance can easily cause confusion, especially from a distance.
However, the difference becomes clear when you cut them open. Hawthorns usually contain one or a few hard seeds, while crabapples have a star-shaped core, just like regular apples.